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Roland Julian Fairclough
Roland Julian Fairclough (born 13 April 1954) is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Northern Ireland, First Lord of the Treasury, Member of the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. He represents the constituency of Rutland and Melton as a Member of Parliament. Fairclough studied Languages and Linguistics at the University of Bath, gaining a upper second class honours degree. He then joined The Daily Telegraph through an internship for three months. He went on to become a writer for The Leicester Mercury. He was a freelance writer for The Times educational supplementary for six years. He was defeated in his first campaign to become a councillor in 1977, but was elected in 1984 as a councillor Leicester City Council. He served on the council for three years before deciding to run as a candidate to become a Member of Parliament. He was elected as Member of Parliament for Rutland and Melton in the 1992 general election with a reduced majority. He remained on the backbenches until 1998 where the premiership of Miss Teresa Edison as Leader of the Conservative Party convinced him to become more actively involved. He was promoted to the opposition front benches in 1999. In the general election of 1999, the Conservatives won 358 seats in a majority parliament. He was promoted to the front benches where he sat as Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Secretary of State for Culture, Media and the Regions. In controversial circumstances, Teresa Edison resigned as Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party, revealing that the leadership election had not selected her as the winner but instead a proxy decision was made by the party after the victor disappeared. Fairclough ran for Leader of the Conservative Party and defeated the favourites to win, Sebastian Knight and Terry Barton with 50% of the votes. Early Life Roland Julian Fairclough was born in Leicester to his parents, Jonathan and Olivia, in 1954. He was raised in a loving, warm family home along with his two older siblings. He first attended the St. Thomas More Catholic School and then continued his education at the Lancaster School. His father was employed as a features editor at a London newspaper but his mother considered herself to be a housewife. His childhood was largely spent in the care of his mother but his admiration for his father never waned. He was taught to appreciate the value of education and taught to read and write at an early age, developing a love of classic Russian literature during the later years of secondary school. University After he had strong results in both English and languages, he was successful in his application to study language and linguistics at the University of Bath. During his time at the university, he became an arts writer for Bath Impact, the student newspaper. In addition to his writing, he was a keen enthusiast of the arts and performed in several Shakespeare productions for the Arts Union at the Student Union. At his graduation ceremony at the university, he proudly received a high two:one classification for his degree. Employment and Politics After his graduation, Fairclough entered into media as an intern for The Daily Telegraph. His internship lasted for three months and his editor referred him to a job at his local newspaper in Leicester. He applied and was given the job as a news writer. It was at this newspaper that he met Eleanor. She was a sub-editor of the arts section and the two developed a strong friendship as he moved his way up the ranks of the newspaper. Their relationship developed into something more after the two went on an assignment together in Scotland, following an up-and-coming literary festival. They married the following year and he expressed his interest in politics. He continued to be a freelance writer for the newspaper and ran as a councillor. He was unsuccessful in his first campaign. When Eleanor fell pregnant with their first child, he put on hold his plans for a second campaign and re-entered the media as a writer for The Times' educational supplementary. James was born a healthy boy and he continued in this role as a writer for six years before he ran a second time for a councillor position. His second campaign was extremely successful and he served on the council for three years. During that time, Elizabeth was born and the family moved to a larger residence just outside of Leicester. Parliament Fairclough decided not to run for re-election as a councillor and instead focused his sights on a parliamentary seat. When he was told by the local Conservative Party group that the seat of Rutland and Melton would be open at the next election due to the incumbent's resignation through age, he fought fiercely to win their favour. His determination coupled with his experience as a councillor allowed him to best another person who wanted the seat. At the elections, the Conservative majority was reduced but still remained a safe seat for the Conservatives. He was duly elected to the House of Commons. He has served in the seat for eight years. During the leadership of the Conservative Party under Teresa Edison, Fairclough became more involved with front bench politics. During 1998 and 1999, he was involved in key policy discussions. The election in 1999 provided him with a chance to break through into the front benches and he was appointed as the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and the Regions. Leadership When Teresa Edison resigned as Leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister, Fairclough made a bold decision to run for the office. In a hotly contested election where he was considered to be an outsider, he won the election with 50% of the votes, narrowly beating the favourite - Sebastian Knight - by 10% of the votes. He was appointed as Leader of the Conservative and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland and has served in the role for several months. Controversy Controversy first struck the premiership of Fairclough when it was announced that there were going to be major social welfare reforms. One commentator described the plans as the "most sweeping, largest reforms of the social welfare system in half a century". The controversy continues as the social welfare reforms are debated in the House of Commons. The social welfare reforms caused a severe blow to the Fairclough leadership when Sebastian Knight resigned as the Secretary of State for Health in a blazing attack on the government and its social welfare reforms. He later resigned as a Member of Parliament altogether, citing the dictatorial leadership of the Conservative Party as his reason.